Coil support and armature guide



D. ELLIS ET AL COIL SUPPORT AND ARMATURE GUIDE Oct. 30, 1945.

Filed May 21, 1942 wimssas;

Patented Oct. 3 0, 1945 2,387,892 COIL SUPPORT AND ARMATURE GUIDE Delbert Ellis, Wilkinsbnrg,

Forest Hills, Pa.,

corporation ol' Pennsylvania and Owen L. Taylor,

assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation,

East Pittsburgh, Pa., a

Applicatlon May 21, 1942, Serial No. 443,911

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to electromagnets, and more particularly to an improvement in an armature guide for such magnets, and an improved arrangement of parts for securing the electromagnet to a supporting plate which will be effective to align the position of the electromagnet with respect to such plate.

In one common form of electromagnet there is provided a magnet frame having armature guides serving the dual purpose of positioning the coil within the frame and for guiding the armature in its sliding movement with respect to the center of the coil. In such magnets the direction of movement of the armature is in a large part controlled by the mechanism which is operated by the armature. Accordingly, it is desirable to accurately position the magnet with respect to the line of movement of the armature to prevent scraping of the armature guides by the armature which would otherwise cause undue wear.

A further factor also contributing to undue wear, which has been found undesirable in such magnets, has been caused by the particular arrangement of the armature guide which is employed to position the coil within the magnet frame in addition to guiding the travel of the armature. This dual use of the guide is desirable from the standpoint of cost of construction.

In order to enable the armature guide to position the coil with respect to the armature frame, the guide has been provided with a single clamping part adapted to have clamping engagement with both the coil and the frame. In such an arrangement, engagement of the single clamping part with the coil would be effective to spring such part with respect to the body of the armature guide and cause movement of such part out of clamping engagement with the frame. Movement of the clamping part out of engagement with the frame would, in turn, be eective to cause the end of the guide to be displaced inwardly with respect to the frame and toward the moving armature. Such movement of the guide toward the armature would cause a scraping action to take place and undue wear in the relatively moving parts. The movement thus imparted to the armature guides at times has'been found suflicient to cause the armature to bind within its guides and thus prevent actuation thereof by energization of the coil.

f One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide an improved form of armature guide which will be effective to maintain the coil in position on its frame and to prevent vibration of the coil from disturbing the position of the armature guide with respect to the armature.

A further object of this invention is to provide an armature guide having separate parts resiliently connected thereto for movement independent of each other, and in which one of such parts may be employed for clamping the guide to the magnet frame and the other of such parts may be employed for holding the coil in position on the magnet frame.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangement of parts for mounting the magnet frame on a base plate whereby its position and that of the armature guide may be accurately aligned with respect to the baseplate.'

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangement of parts for securing a. supporting frame to a base plate by which the frame may be readily removed from the base plate, notwithstanding that some of the parts by which the frame is secured to the base plate are rendered inaccessible by other mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of an electromagnet frame and associated parts constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line II-lI of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of one of the armature guides shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an end view of a guide shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the guide shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a part thereof being broken away; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the base plate illustrating the improved arrangement of the parts thereof by which the magnet frame is secured and aligned with respect thereto.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the numeral l indicates as a whole a magnet frame adapted to receive a coil 2 which is energizable for actuating an armature (not shown). 'I'he frame l comprises a pair of spaced sheet metal stampings 3 having a stack of lamin'ations 4 formed from magnetic material positioned therebetween. The stampings 3 and laminations 4 are provided with a rectangular opening, not shown, for the reception of the coil 2 in a manner well known in the art. One side of the laminations 4 is cut taken substantially away as between the dotted lines 5 to provide an opening by which an amature may be moved into and out of a space provided centrally of the coil 2.

In order to guide the movement of the armature with respect to the coil 2, a pair of armature guides 6 is provided. As best shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the guides 6 are channel-shaped having flanges presenting guiding surfaces 1 and a connecting web presenting a guiding surface 8. Each of the guides 6 is provided with a part 9 doubled back on itself for the purpose of clamping the coil in position on the frame and for clamping the armature guide to the frame I.

In the assembly of the device, the coil 2 is rst positioned within the frame I, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Each of the guides 6 is then slid into position with the part 9 in clamping engagement with a bracket I8 formed in one of the plates 3 at one edge of the frame I and with the projecting end I| positioned between the laminations 4 and a bracket I2 formed in the plate 3v at an opposite edge of the frame I.

Heretofore, the clamping members 9 have been formed in one integral piece adapted to have engagement both with the brackets I and the coil 2. With the clamping members 9 formed in such manner, it will be apparent that movement of the part 9 into engagement with the coil 2 could be effective to loosen clamping engagement of the member 9 with the bracket I0 and to impart inward movement to the upper ends of the guides 6, as viewed in Fig. 2. Such inward movement of the upper ends of the guides 6 obviously would cause the guides to scrape on the armature, thus causing undue wear and at times a binding action preventing movement of the armature.

To overcome the disadvantages referred to above, the clamping member of this invention is provided with a lanced out part I3 which is adapted to have clamping engagement with the bracket I8. The lanced out part I3 is resiliently movable with respect to the body of the guide 6 independently of movement of the remainder I4 of the clamping member 9 which is likewise resiliently movable with respect to the body of the guide 6. Since the parts I3 and I4 are capable of resilient movement independent of each other, it will be apparent that the part I4 which is employed to clamp the coil 2 in position on the frame I may be sprung Awith respect to the guiding portion of the guide 6 without interfering with the clamping action of the part I3 for the transmission of such movement to the guide 6. In other words, the clamping action afforded by the part I3 is effective to prevent vibratory movement of the coil 2 from being transmitted to the guide 6 through .the part I4.

The member 9, which is returned or doubled back on the main portion of the guiding member 6, is preferably provided with a part I5 extending outwardly from the web 6 and forming substantially a right angle therewith as best shown in Fig. 5. By lancing the member 9to the line of connection I6 between the part I5 and web 8, it will be apparent that resilient bending of the clamping members I3 and I4 will take place about the line I6, and thus ensure that the moventient of such parts will be independent of each o her.

The lanced out portion I3 isk preferably formed centrally of the member 9 in order that the manner the stability of the member I4 is increased and the entire width of the member l is available for clamping engagement with the coil 2. However, it will be apparent that the location of the lanced-out portion I3 may be changed without departing from the principles of this invention as long as such changed construction is characterized by the provision of two clamping parts I3 and I4 connected to the guide member 6 for resilient movement independent of each other with respect to the guide member 6.

The ends I| of the guide members I8 are provided with slots I1 for the reception of the ends of a spring clip I8 as best shown in Fig. 2. The

- clip |8 has threaded engagement with a screw I9 adapted to abut against a bottom 20 of the laminations 4 and by which the member I8 may be moved outwardly with respect to the frame I. Upon movement of the member I8 outwardly by the screw I9, it will be apparent that the ends of the clip I8 will exert a force tending to draw the armature guides through the frame I, Such force is a resilient force, and will be added to the resilient force exerted by the clamping member I4 for holding the coil 2 in position. The force exerted by the clip I8 will, through the ends thereof, tend to cam the ends II of the guides 6 away from each other and thus prevent a drawing in of such ends which would otherwise cause a binding action on the armature as has been encountered in fastening devices for the ends heretofore available.

Electromagnets of the type referred to above are frequently employed as actuating means in compact structures such as electromagnetically operated switches. In such structures, the direction of movement of the actuating armature is in part controlled by the mechanism which it is adapted to actuate. Accordingly, it will be apparent that the magnet frame I must be accurately mounted and aligned with respect to the mechanism operated by the armature, in order t: prevent scraping of the armature guides by the armature due to misalignment of the frame I.

In the drawing, the frame I is shown as mounted on a base plate 2|, and since the base plate 2| will also support the mechanism actuated by the Y armature, It will be understood that the proper aligning of the frame I with respect to the base plate 2| will also align the frame I with respect to other mechanism such as a circuit breaker carried by the base plate 2|.

`The stampings 3 are provided with anges 22 extending laterally outwardly from the base thereof by which the magnetic frame I may be secured in position on the base plate 2|. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 6, the base plate 2| has a U-shaped resilient clamping member 23 secured thereto. The clamping member 2'3 is provided with a pair of arms 24 projecting outwardly therefrom for clamping engagement with the upper surface of the ange 22 along one edge of the frame I and at the corners 25 of the iiange 22, as best shown in Fig. 2. The plate 2| is also provided with a pair of dowel pins 26 adapted to be received in openings 21 formed 4in the anges 22 for aligning the position of the frame I with respect to the base plate 2|. The corners 28 of the flanges 22 are provided with openings (not shown) for the reception of sei'screws 29 adapted to have threaded engagement with the plate 2| in order to secure the frame I in position.

In order to mount and secure the frame I in position, it is merely necessary to force the corners 25 under the arms 24 and lower the openings 21 over the dowel pins 26. The resilient arms 24 operate to clamp the flange corners 25 to the base plate 2l and the dowel pins cooperate with the openings 21 to align the frame I with respect thereto. 'I'he mounting of the frame I is completed by placing the setscrews 29 in position, such setscrews cooperating with the clamps 24 to hold the frame in its desired position. Obviously, other forms of releasable fastening devices may be substituted for the setscrews 29. The resilient clamp 23 renders the mounting and removal of the frame I easy notwithstanding the fact that the clamping arms 24 may be inaccessible by reason of the presence of other mechanism.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that there is provided a mounting for the frame I which is operable to align the position of such frame with respect to the base plate 2I on which it is mounted. It will also be apparent that the aligning feature provided by the mounting of this invention cooperates with the novel structure of the guide parts I3 and I4 toward the common end of preventing undue wear between the relatively moving guide and armature parts of the electromagnet. 'I'he parts I3 and I4 function to position the guide with respect to the frame I, and the mounting provided for the frame I operates to position such frame with respect to the line of travel of the armature as controlled by the mechanism operated by such armature.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction, and different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or If shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim as our invention:

l. In an electromagnet having a support, a solenoid coil, and an armature guide in said coil, said armature guide comprising a body member having a portion doubled back on itself at one end thereof, said portion comprising separate parts resiliently connected to said body member, one of said parts being operable to resiliently clamp said body member to said support independently of said coil, and the other of said parts being operable to resiliently clamp said coil on said support.

2. In an electromagnet having a support, a solenoid coil, and a structural member having separate parts at one end thereof and resiliently connected thereto, one of said parts being operable to resiliently clamp said member to said support independently of said coil, and the other of said parts being operable to resiliently clamp said coil on said support.

3. In an electromagnet having a support, a solenoid coil, and an armature guide in said coil, said guide comprising a body member having a portion at one end thereof doubled back on itself for resilient movement with respect thereto, said portion being arranged for fastening said coil to said support and having a tongue portion lanced out from the doubled back portion and resiliently movable independently of movement of said doubled back portion for clamping said body member to said support independently of said coil.

4. In an eleetromagnet having a support, a solenoid coil, and a pair of armature guides, each of said guides having at one end thereof separate parts respectively operable for resiliently clamping the same to said support independently of said coil and for resiliently clamping said coil to said support respectively, and means engageable with the other ends of said guides for resiliently holding the same in position with respect to said support.

5. In an electromagnet having a support, a solenoid coil, and a pair of armature guides, each of said guides having a part at one end thereof for resiliently clamping the same to said support independently of said coil, said part having a surface engageable with said coil for holding the same on said support, and a spring clip at the other ends of said guides for holding the same in position with respect to said support and adapted to exert a resilient force lengthwise of said guides in order to cause said surfaces to resiliently hold said coil 'on said support.

6. In an electromagnet, having a support, a solenoid coil, and an armature guide in said coil, said guide having two resilient clamping parts, one being arranged for fastening said guide to said support independently of said coil, and the other for resiliently fastening said coil to said support.

7. In an electromagnet having a support, a solenoid coil, and a pair of armature guides, each of said guides having at one end thereof separate parts respectively operable for resiliently clamping the same to said support independently of said coil and for resiliently clamping said coil to said support respectively, and a single spring clip engaging the other ends of said guides for resiliently holding said guides in position relative to said support.

DELBERT ELLIS. OWEN L. TAYLOR. 

